I took prenatal and postnatal yoga classes and now I'm doing the crawler and toddler classes, but I'd like to to a "real" yoga class on the weekend, sans baby. I'm pretty much a beginner still -- can anyone recommend what kind of class to start with? I was thinking maybe hatha flow since most of my experience is in that, but I'm totally open to suggestions!

Thanks happy :) So far, so good! My obliques are KILLING me, but I feel like going everyday is leading to some really major breakthroughs via repetition and I feel immediately stronger. Yesterday I wound up having a semi-private class because only one other person showed up, and it was a pretty profound experience.

kick booty on keeping up with it. that's really awesome on the semi-private class. i've been lucky enough to have experienced one myself a few months ago. it was glorious! so awesome on feeling stronger already, too. superw00t!

I took prenatal and postnatal yoga classes and now I'm doing the crawler and toddler classes, but I'd like to to a "real" yoga class on the weekend, sans baby. I'm pretty much a beginner still -- can anyone recommend what kind of class to start with? I was thinking maybe hatha flow since most of my experience is in that, but I'm totally open to suggestions!

mandycoot, i think hatha flow sounds awesome & a good place to start. the teacher in any class should give modifications for all levels, too. even though i've been practicing for years, i still love a good gentle yoga class. it's kinda like "chill yoga" and it makes me feel awesome because they often times through in a few restorative poses that de-stress me like you would not believe. :D if you can find yin yoga, i recommend those as well. in yin yoga you hold the poses for longer, and i want to say the poses are more restorative, too.

Woo! I'm only 2/3 of the way through my challenge, but I did it! I did a headstand for the first time EVER today. It was so, so awesome. I also got into Bakasana for like a single second before I fell out. All I can say is that doing yoga every day is the best idea I've ever had. I want to do yoga every day forever and ever!

Chris and I have started doing hot yoga together and love it so much.It's an awesome studio in Austin that is donation based and they have classes super late (10:30!) so that's our nightly date/wind down.

_________________"One day you'll see, when tofu takes over the world because tofu can be anything it wants to be!" -bekki

I made a promise to myself to seriously take up moksha hot yoga once I got back to Vancouver and I did. There's a special intro month deal that I got, but I fully intend to continue and do it daily if I can. Since last Thursday I've gone every day except once, and every time I go it gets better and I feel more focused and stronger, even though I know I can't actually be stronger since it's only been a week. I could stand to lose a bit of weight and tone up my muscles, but my main purpose is to feel more balanced and mentally stronger during my last year of grad school.

I want to set a yoga goal each month. My goal for this month is to learn to enjoy pigeon pose.

Have any of you ever done a Tara Stiles dvd? I just impulsively bought a 4-dvd set of hers for $20 on amazon only because it was rated 5 stars. I'm just wondering what to expect and if it was that cheap because they aren't very good.

Lately I've been enjoying Rock Your Yoga on the Veria channel. It's an hour long show and the instructor seems very fun and outgoing and more of the mindset that yoga is about doing the best you can do on any given day, rather than trying to be perfect like I've encountered with some other teachers. Have any of you watched the show?

_________________"I would love to be president of the United States. It's been my dream ever since I discovered what power was." ~ RandiJM, age 11-ish

I got my butt to a Flow Yoga class last night which was pretty decent. I picked up the teachers dvd too so in theory I can practice at home. When I go back to university in January I might check out a nearby Bikram class. I did it about a year ago and couldn't figure out if I hated it or loved it. I'm a masochist so I think I loved it but it was pretty intense and disorienting so I'm not sure. Yoga is so great. I love how there is a school of practice for every type of person.

I tried a Yin-Yang class tonight because two of my running pals suggested this style was helpful for them. Basically, half the practice is challenging flowing asana and the other half is deeper postures, held for up to 5mins. If I liked it, the plan was to incorporate the Sunday evening class (after my long runs) as part of my regular routine. Well, I loved it! I didn't find it super challenging (as in, it didn't feel like a workout), but I got some nice deep stretches. Very restorative & relaxing, which is a perfect end to the week. The studio is a 5min walk from my house and it was beautiful space and welcoming. The teachers/staff were awesome too. This will be a nice balance to my running and hot yoga practice. Yipee!

My teacher was away so I didn't go to yoga classes for almost a month. So I started up again last Wednesday because she had returned (at this point, I only go once a week, but it's 90 minutes beginner/intermediate kundalini style) and anyway, I noticed such a difference in my patience the next day--as in I had more of it than usual about things that aggravate me and also just a much more positive mindset overall. Sometimes I need reminders of how beneficial yoga is to my life and that even when my teacher is away, I still need to practice regularly!

I just got Paul Grilley's Yin Yoga DVD and my body is so grateful. I have been really low energy recently so more energetic styles have been a bit much. I took a workshop with Paul several years ago and at the time I felt like yin yoga was way too crazy-meditative for me--I craved movement--but it is really wonderful for my mind and body.

I went to my second ever Kundalini class tonight. And, it's still weird, but I still think I like it! Anyone out there practice Kundalini on the regular??? Tell me more!

I have practiced it since 2001 and for some periods in that time, practiced it regularly. I love it! I think it's my favorite style of yoga. I think I like the mental/emotional benefits best it seems to have a deeper spiritual element than other yogas--there's more breathing exercises, chanting, and rhythmic performance of asanas as opposed to flow yoga. There's a great variety of asanas, too. That's the thing for me with Ashtanga--I can get bored of it because it's all sun-salutation-y and there are no surprises. I've been going to classes with the same Kundalini teacher, same group of people now for about three years and she can mix it up every time and I always feel like I just had a great session of release and my spirits are lifted. I find its effects very positive and the group has stayed much the same so there's a greater comfort level among us all, I think though every session there are at least a few new faces.

Now, I can get into the chants, but for me, it took years. It seemed strange to me for a while but now I care not and giv'r. Letting go is much of the point.

There is some talk of the chakras and auras and magnetic fields and that but I don't get too much into that. The teacher goes over the focus of that day's practice when there's a brief break (like, 2 mins in my class) in the physical and breathing exercises as she talks about that. I mean it's positive talk but I don't necessarily believe it entirely, but I don't mind listening.

Each class starts with the Om Namo salutation then a warm up--usually those are the same kind of exercises: cat/cow, spinal twists, alternate leg lifts, spinal flex and then a brief breathing/meditation and then the short talk of focus for today's session then onto the physical routine of maybe 30-40 mins and then at the end around 15 to 20 mins of deep relaxation (corpse) and then another meditation of around ten minutes at the end, ending with the Sunshine Song. <3

Keep it up if it seems like it's the style for you. It takes some getting used to especially at first but it's been a great benefit to my life.

I think it's my favorite style of yoga. I think I like the mental/emotional benefits best it seems to have a deeper spiritual element than other yogas--there's more breathing exercises, chanting, and rhythmic performance of asanas as opposed to flow yoga. There's a great variety of asanas, too. That's the thing for me with Ashtanga--I can get bored of it because it's all sun-salutation-y and there are no surprises. I've been going to classes with the same Kundalini teacher, same group of people now for about three years and she can mix it up every time and I always feel like I just had a great session of release and my spirits are lifted. I find its effects very positive and the group has stayed much the same so there's a greater comfort level among us all, I think though every session there are at least a few new faces.

Now, I can get into the chants, but for me, it took years. It seemed strange to me for a while but now I care not and giv'r. Letting go is much of the point.

There is some talk of the chakras and auras and magnetic fields and that but I don't get too much into that. The teacher goes over the focus of that day's practice when there's a brief break (like, 2 mins in my class) in the physical and breathing exercises as she talks about that. I mean it's positive talk but I don't necessarily believe it entirely, but I don't mind listening.

Each class starts with the Om Namo salutation then a warm up--usually those are the same kind of exercises: cat/cow, spinal twists, alternate leg lifts, spinal flex and then a brief breathing/meditation and then the short talk of focus for today's session then onto the physical routine of maybe 30-40 mins and then at the end around 15 to 20 mins of deep relaxation (corpse) and then another meditation of around ten minutes at the end, ending with the Sunshine Song. <3

Keep it up if it seems like it's the style for you. It takes some getting used to especially at first but it's been a great benefit to my life.

Thanks for your rundown! I do like it, but I think I'm more committed to my more "standard" asana practice. I don't work with teachers who do a lot of set series, which is nice! But, I think I'm going to go to more Kundalini because of the way it let's me access different parts of my mind. I've never felt anything like it that wasn't dancing!

I've just started in hopes it will help to treat my depression and improve body awareness. So far, I really like my instructors. I feel so out of shape, though - I'm one of the younger people in my group and I can't even touch my toes! But in time, heh.

I am a yoga newbie and took some time off due to a knee injury that just won't seem to get better. It's very frustrating. I think I may need PT but I have no insurance right now. Anyhow, I'm not sure what style the basic/beginner class is that I was going to, but I was also enjoying Forrest Yoga. Going to beginner class again tonight. Trying to ease back into it without angering the knee too much. :/

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:36 pmPosts: 1692Location: the land of too much wine and wind

Yoga is incredible for recovery, but only if you really listen to your body and don't push yourself too far. It really helped me when I was recovering from nerve damage post surgery.

Don't forget to tell your instructors about your knee problems, especially since you are a beginner. They'll keep an eye on you, and whenever there's a pose that may aggravate it, they'll give you alternative poses. They might even be able to show you poses and stretches to do outside of class that would help, kind of like a PT would.

_________________I just brought out the carrot sticks. This is war. - paprikapapaya

Yoga is incredible for recovery, but only if you really listen to your body and don't push yourself too far. It really helped me when I was recovering from nerve damage post surgery.

Don't forget to tell your instructors about your knee problems, especially since you are a beginner. They'll keep an eye on you, and whenever there's a pose that may aggravate it, they'll give you alternative poses. They might even be able to show you poses and stretches to do outside of class that would help, kind of like a PT would.

Thanks, yes, I'm not much of a push myself too hard type, and I am very gentle with myself. And all of my lovely yoga teachers have always asked about who has injuries for modifications in class.

I've been trying to fit in at least a little yoga every day, my deal with myself is that I have to get my may out and even if I only do corpse pose. My mum bought me a subscription to www.ekhartyoga.com (there are free sessions too) and I absolutely love Esther Ekhart. There is simply no way I could get to a class regularly. She mainly does vinyasa flies but there are other teachers : hatha, yin etc. I've also been trying to do some of the meditations but its harder to find the guaranteed uninterruption for that! Three small boys and their needs certainly have a way of intruding!

I've managed it most days for the last five months though and I can feel what 10-20 minutes a day is doing for me. I usually practice while my youngest naps and it transforms my afternoons.